Once again, this blog turns to the Prof for some side splitters, and they are all true!

There is a saying that there is no joy quite as joyous as Schadenfreude, which is the joy one feels at the misfortune of (suitably deserving) others. In Hebrew it is called “Simcha L-eid” while the German word (also used in English) means joy at misfortune. It is the joy we feel when a Palestinian terrorist throws a molotov cocktail at some Jews but aims poorly and it comes down and lands on himself. (You can also see the resemblance to Darwin Awards.) You can see a delightful collection of such vignettes here: Daniel Pipes: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/01/instant-retribution-in-the-middle-east#Fatah

There are lots of new stories that will give you a delightful sense of Schadenfreude. First, there is the huge multi-million shekel suit filed against Haaretz by Anat Kamm. You may recall Kamm as the clueless young leftist who stole oodles of sensitive classified military documents and gave them to Haaetz far-leftist reporter Uri Blau. Kamm did some jail time for this, although not as much as she should have done. Haaretz and Blau got off with a slap to the wrist. After all, since when does the Israeli judicial system really prosecute Far Leftists?

Well, Kamm is suing Haaretz because it published some of the stolen documents she gave them. I find that almost as absurd as the woman who sued MacDonald’s for serving her coffee that was too hot, but nevertheless I am delighted to see Haaretz up to its Kaffiya in an expensive and grisly lawsuit.

Then there was the Labor Party assembly this past week. There the “clique” of Shelly “Little Bo Peep” Yachimovich reasserted its control of the party and defeated the opposing clique, headed by Eitan Cabel and others. The amusing part was where the members of Shelly’s team starting using racist anti-Mizrachi hate speech, guaranteed to lose the Labor Party what little it still gets from the Mizrachi vote.

Israeli leftists are almost all snotty yuppie Ashkenazim (of Eastern European descent). They also have a long track record of making disparaging remarks about Sephardim-Mizrachim (of Mediterranean or Arabic Jewish descent). The problem for the Left is that Mizrachim by and large are NOT. Not Leftist, that is. Perhaps the most famous was the set of snarls by the late Dudu Topaz about how all the “Chochchochim” are in the Likud, the term used as a derogatory term for Mizrachim, roughly similar to the use of “greasers” in the US to refer to Latinos, Italians, or other groups. Before that the bovine “comedienne” Tiki Dayan made similar snooty comments (see http://www.hagalil.com/israel/politik/tv/propaganda.htm ) and there have been others.

Well, this past week, Shelly’s mensheviks got up and started screaming at their own party opposition that they are a bunch of “Arsim.” The Hebrew slang word “Ars” (it actually comes from Arabic – see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_(slang) ) can mean pimp or thug but can also be a derogatory term for Mizrachim, and the party opponents to Shelly are led by several Mizrachim. Now Shelly and her sheep are tripping all over themselves trying to “apologize” and spin the scandal for the media. The rest of us can just sit back and sip our Arak and watch Labor implode.

Ah, but by far the BEST story of Schadenfreude is this:

You recall the Gaza Flotilla of Turkish terrorists from the Turkish Islamofascist organization “IHH”. These were the terrorists who tried to murder the unarmed Israeli soldiers who stopped their boat when it illegally tried to run the Israeli blockade of the Hamas in Gaza. And these are the terrorists to whom Israel’s spineless Prime Minister just apologized and offered “reparations” as a reward for their trying to murder Israeli soldiers.

Well, there are some interesting aftershocks to the whole story. Another group of pro-Hamas “internationals” attempted to enter Gaza from Egypt to show their support for the Hamas. They even named themselves the Mavi Marmara, which was the name of the Turkish terrorist ship that Israel stopped and for which it has now “apologized.” This new group consists of European Muslims, mainly the children of Pakistanis living in the UK. They started off in France and Spain, crossed over to Morocco and then made their way overland from Morocco to Gaza. The “internationals” claimed to be bringing in food and civilian supplies to the Hamas, and the gasoline they bought to get from Morocco cost several times the value of their “aid cargo.”

Their problem was that when they got to the border between Libya and Egypt, the Egyptians would not let them pass through. Egypt is having its own spats these days with the Hamas, after the Hamas murdered 16 Egyptian soldiers. Anyway, five of these European “aid to Hamas” terrorists then turned back and returned to Benghazi. Yes, that Benghazi. There the five, three of them women, were kidnapped by Libyan soldiers. In captivity, the three women were either raped or just sexually abused, depending on which media source you believe. The Libyan Deputy Prime Minister says they were raped. He also says that two of the women were raped in front of their own fathers who came to Libya to try to help their daughters get out. After Pakistan protested, Libya arrested a group of soldiers for the rape and some have evidently confessed.

Now you know doubt recall that MA thesis from Hebrew University that was supervised a few years back by Prof. Eyal Ben Ari, a far leftist professor of sociology. In that thesis, which was awarded a special prize by the Hebrew University, it was claimed that the fact that Israeli soldiers never rape Arab women just goes to show you how racist the Jews are. Some time after it received the prize, Ben Ari was fired by the Hebrew University after it was proven that he had raped some of his own Hebrew University students. Maybe to prove he was not a racist.

So it occurs to me that Prof. Eyal Ben Ari is now looking for a new gig and he could not find better work than serving in the Libyan military. Perhaps he can bring with him a few hundred other Israeli tenured leftists? There they can help fight racism!

IF anyone has trouble following the insanity which passes for both Israeli leadership, and the lack thereof, well, at least Israel’s resident leftists are good for something – much needed comic relief, courtesy of Prof Plaut!

Re justice in the Holy Land.As an observer from afar,it does seem like Alice and wonderland as you say. Question, when Israel has to defend itself do the left help out? Because everything I read seems like they are on the other side.Question 2 Why are the settlers picked on or have I got it wrong. Wanting to understand!! Bob NZ